Do you have an autoimmune condition and nothing you do seems to make any difference?
Have you been told by your doctor that your only options are medications such as immunosuppressants, anti-depressants, sleeping pills, and pain medications?
How did you feel when you heard this? Does this mean you’re stuck with fatigue, and pain, forever? Where does this leave you and your family in the long term?
What if I told you that rebuilding your health and reversal or remission of autoimmune symptoms is possible using the Functional Medicine Nutrition approach?
This involves identifying the root causes of why you feel so terrible, healing your body in non-invasive and organic ways, and regaining your health, energy, and vitality.
You may feel a bit dubious when you hear this.
After all, you’ve been told numerous times, by numerous doctors, that apart from symptom relief using multiple medications, there’s nothing else that can be done.
But the functional medicine approach is gaining popularity. It focuses on discovering and treating the root causes of disease and getting people feeling better.
What is Functional Medicine?
In a nutshell, functional medicine focuses on going back through your health history with a fine-tooth comb, to identify and address the original causes of your chronic illness. It uses a systematic whole-body whole-person model to look at your health as an individual.
Yes, that’s right. Functional medicine is a personalised approach. It is NOT a protocol-driven, pharmaceutical-driven, ‘pill for an ill’ approach.
Functional medicine nutrition specialists look for the hidden underlying reasons why you don’t feel well. They look at your health history, evaluate your test results, review your diet, investigate for environmental exposures, and put together the pieces of your health puzzle.
Your body has a tremendous ability to heal itself when the triggers for why your body is not working optimally are identified and removed.
Dr. Sidney Baker once said, “If you’re sitting on a tack, the answer is not to treat the pain with aspirin. The solution is to find the tack and remove it.”
This is what Functional medicine does to reverse autoimmune symptoms. It searches for why your immune system is overactive in the first place. And, once this is identified functional medicine nutrition specialists know what needs to be done to heal your body safely (so you finally start feeling better).
A functional medicine nutrition specialist will take time to listen to your story, and work WITH you to understand how you got to where you are today. They look for what might have started the problem, what may still be triggering your symptoms, and propose ways to guide your body back to health.
Healing takes time. It has taken many years for your body to get to this point of pain and low functionality, so reversing this also takes time. Functional medicine nutrition specialists develop personalised health plans based on your capacity for change. You proceed at YOUR pace.
What is the outcome?
The progression of your autoimmune condition will slow, and you will have reduced symptoms, feel better, and start to enjoy your life again.
Autoimmune Conditions and Functional Medicine
Functional medicine nutrition specialists treat autoimmune diseases differently from conventional doctors.
Instead of masking the symptoms using medications to suppress the immune system, they’re focused on getting to the root causes and reducing the inflammation by removing the triggers.
They’ll ask the question, “why did YOU get autoimmunity in the first place?” And they’ll investigate until they find the answers.
When you see a functional medicine nutrition specialist, they’ll ask you lots of questions about your health history and if required order specialized functional medicine testing to discover what dysfunctional biological and biochemical processes may be contributing to your poor health.
Some of the most common root causes are:
- A Leaky Gut or Intestinal Permeability
- Gastrointestinal dysbiosis (out of balance gut microbiome)
- Nutritional deficiencies or Insufficiencies
- Exposures to Toxins and Poor Detoxification
- Chronic Infections
- Food Sensitivities
- Chronic and/or acute stress
Most people with autoimmune diseases have several of these root causes. Your functional medicine nutrition specialist will know how to identify and address these issues in a safe and strategic way.
Functional medicine nutrition focuses heavily on food and lifestyle interventions. But it also places great emphasis on whole-person healing and will address your spiritual and emotional health as well.
You Are Not Stuck For Life
When you have an autoimmune disease or multiple autoimmune conditions you are not stuck with these for life. One important thing you can do is work with a functional medicine nutrition-trained specialist who will identify and address the triggers and root causes of your symptoms.
When you understand some of the reasons behind your autoimmune disease, you’ll be able to slow the progression of your condition, have fewer symptoms, and allow your body to heal.
Your health will start to improve, and you’ll get back to enjoying your life again.
For more information on your specific health condition and how Functional Medicine can improve your health, book a FREE 20-minute appointment with Dr. Shelley Cavezza, PhD.
